Relief Pitching Deadline Day Rumors

The market for relievers is always moving on deadline day, as teams look to add pen pieces that will bolster their depth down the stretch. Fernando Abad is off the board, having been traded to the Red Sox today. We’ll keep tabs on the remaining relievers here:

While they are also pursuing larger targets, the Giants have perused the second tier of the relief market, per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link). While the top targets have perhaps mostly already been traded, San Francisco has scouted the Brewers’ strong group of relievers as well as increasingly valuable Rockies southpaw Boone Logan — though last we heard he may not be traded. Jeanmar Gomez of the Phillies is another name the Giants have checked, though he too isn’t sure to be dealt. And even as the Giants talk with the Rays on starter Matt Moore, the club has also watched right-handed swingman Erasmo Ramirez, per Crasnick.

The Astros are kicking around some left-handed reliever options, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (Twitterlinks). That’s arguably the team’s biggest area of need. Some of the names mentioned include Logan and Jake McGee of the Rockies and the Brewers’ Will Smith — all of whom are at or near the remaining market for relief southpaws. It’s not immediately clear whether any are real options at this stage, as Crasnick notes that nothing has “materialized” to this point.

Comments

Ice been on this site for several weeks, and yes I kid around about the Braves trading for Trout, but I know it would take half the Braves roster and like 10 prospects to get him. However, I want to say that I agree with the fella who said the Braves should trade Freddie Freeman. If the Braves are in true rebuild and have needs all over, why not ship Freeman to the Astros and bring back Bregman and AJ Reed plus?? The Astros could use Freeman and a pitcher. Why not send Freeman, Inciarte, and Jenkins for a bundle that includes AJ Reed and Bregman. Then, and only then, will the common everyday Braves fan will accept losing the way that we have been. Now you have a full rebuild

I think the Astros have better options than trading for Freeman. Their easiest move is to give Luis Valbuena a Qualifying Offer. If he accepts it, the Astros have their starting 1B next year with AJ Reed and Marwin Gonzales as back ups.

If Valbuena declines the QO, the Astros can still roll with Reed and Marwin and be fine, as long as the other positions produce.

The real fans of teams understand that rebuilds happen here and there. A couple of years to fix all the problems Wren started, and we’re back to the #1 farm in mlb. The plan has always been to shoot for 2017, 2018 at the latest.

Freeman is the anchor of the team, signed at a friendly deal and honestly, I don’t think other teams value him as much as Atlanta does, or as much as the casual “win now” Braves fan do.

Other teams aren’t going to give up 3 top tier prospects plus some fillers for Freeman. I love the guy, but he’s not THAT good. He has holes in his swing, and doesn’t exactly hit 30+ hr’s and drive in 100 runs every year.

In fact, he’s never hit 30 hrs and only passed 100 rbi’s once.

As said, there needs to be a name to draw from for 2017, and Freeman is it. The home grown kid, etc. Combine that with what they’ve done already (Kemp) and what they could potentially do in the off season, and that’ll be the draw to start the new stadium off right.

I fully expect lots of sellout games in the new stadium. Better area, more likely that people like myself will drive the 3+ hours to go there for a weekend and catch a couple of games, with the hotels & more being around there.

The FO has a plan, and they have stuck with it since it was laid out. They’ve said time and time again they’re not going to trade him. They don’t have an albatross contract on the books like Upton JR when they traded Kimbrel, so there’s no real need to move him.

Some people just don’t understand how the business side of things work.